Pearce to come here for town hall meeting after all

Congressman Steve Pearce decided this week to hold a town hall in Ruidoso Saturday. His Las Cruces office was the scene last month of protests when he held a teleconference instead.(Photo: Las Cruces Sun-News)

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, whose Las Cruces office was the scene of protests last month when he failed to come home during the congressional break for an in-person town hall meeting, abruptly announced Wednesday that he will face constituents in Ruidoso Saturday.

The session will be at the Convention Center, starting at 9 a.m.

The news release from Pearce’s Washington office did not refer to the Las Cruces protests, which included a mock town hall featuring a satirical stand-in for the congressman. But it did note that Pearce had held a town hall teleconference which he said drew thousands of participants across the sprawling second district.

“Since being elected to public office, I have held in-person meetings with constituents, roundtables with local leaders and organizations, telephone town halls to reach thousands of people across our rural district, and other events,” Pearce said in a statement.

The timing of his decision to come to Ruidoso and the short notice suggested strongly that Saturday’s meeting was intended in part as a response to critics who claimed Pearce had sought to avoid a raucous confrontation with anti-Trump voters like those some of his colleagues faced in other states.

“Of course the Democrats of Lincoln County are pleased and excited that Congressman Pearce has finally decided to hold an in-person town hall, and to hold it here in Ruidoso,” said county Democratic chair Nina Grunseth. “We definitely hope our actions had some effect in finally getting to meet with him in person.”

“We’ll have many questions for him on things like public lands, immigration and the suspected ties between the administration and Russia,” she added.

Pearce spokeswoman Keeley Christensen said Pearce had been unable to get back to the 2nd District last week, but only because he was out of the country with the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance.

Grunseth noted that Pearce is likely to encounter a much friendlier audience Saturday in heavily Republican Lincoln County than he would have in Las Cruces, a Democratic Party stronghold and the district’s largest city.

“Steve Pearce has many protectors, allies and friends in Ruidoso,” she said. “I’m sure he feels safe here, and he is safe here. But we will make our presence felt.”

Republican leaders were also getting the word out to their party faithful to make sure of a turnout that reflected the political balance here.

“We are sending an email blast to our email list, and we have announcements on the radio,” said county GOP chairman Joe Eby.